A heartbroken dad has issued a desperate plea for anyone who is still unvaccinated to take the jab after his daughter and ex-partner died just two hospital beds apart.
Kevin, who is from Drumaness in Co Down, has been speaking after the death of his daughter Sammy-Jo, 32, on Saturday, September 11.
Sammy-Jo, a mum-of-four, died from Covid-19 on the same day her mum was buried, Belfast Live reports.
Speaking on The Nolan Show on Wednesday, September 15, Kevin said: "I’ve had the worst weekend of my life.
"I’ve lost my daughter, my best friend. She’s getting buried next Monday - I can't give her a kiss cheerio.
"To happen to your own family - I wouldn’t wish it on anyone what I’ve gone through.
"I’ve come back to work today to get my mind off it. But next Monday, I have to bury my first born, my best friend, my daughter, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
"I can just never get it out of my mind why she didn’t take it. It will haunt me for the rest of my life."
Kevin said Sammy-Jo and her mother did not have underlying health conditions, and that his daughter was a "32-year-old healthy girl".
But neither had received the Covid-19 vaccine.
The emotional father said: "These people that are not taking the Covid-19 injection, they are not thinking of all the people they leave behind.
"If she’d taken it, she would’ve been alive today, her and her mummy.
"I just wish people out there would sometimes listen to the experts, because that is what they are.
"We’ve got the opportunity to take it, and I’m not talking just two people, loads of people in Northern Ireland. Loads of people are sitting out there not taking it, they don’t realise what they’re leaving behind - we have to pick up the pieces."
Sammy-Jo leaves behind her partner and four children - one of whom turns 13-years-old today.
Her two brothers, Kevin's other children, have also been devastated by her death.
The mother and daughter worked together helping elderly people in care.
Kevin said that, while Sammy-Jo and her mother - both unvaccinated - died from Covid, the other vaccinated member of their team is still alive.
The mother and daughter both died in hospital - just two beds apart.
Kevin said: "They were so close - they worked together, lived together and died together.
"It’s on my mind every night, thinking, ‘Why didn’t you take it, why didn’t you take it’.”
"I never thought I would bury my daughter, never. This has shattered my world."
The emotional father got in touch with the show to warn those who have not yet had the Covid-19 vaccine.
He said: "People who are sitting there who don't want to take it and think they're saving the world, go save yourselves first. Some people just think they can avoid Covid-19 and it's not going to happen.
"I just wish people would realise what they’ll leave behind because it will kill them.
“I’m not bitter, I'm just sad they didn’t take it, or they would’ve been alive today, or they would’ve had a fighting chance."
